In the Presidential elections that I have been aware of in my lifetime (starting with the 92 election). There has only been one where there have been any more than the two major party candidates. That was the 92 election where Ross Perot made a run at the White House. He managed to run as an independent and received nearly 19% of the popular vote. He failed to win, but had a MAJOR impact on the election. It gave the voters a third perspective. A third perspective on the campaign trail, a third perspective at the debate table, and a third perspective on America and where its Commander and Chief should take the country. I'm a firm believer that Bill Clinton has Ross Perot to thank for winning his first term. Statistics show that the incumbent has an advantage when running for re-election. This was wiped out by Ross Perot running being that third check box on the ballot.
Every other election since always seems to come down to this; which one is the lesser of two evils? To be totally honest, I'm not a big fan of either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. The latter may come as a bit of a surprise to some. I don't agree on either candidates stances on same sex marriage, on abortion, or on their tax and economic plans for this country. That leaves me (and many others with a tough decision). Do I vote for whichever candidate I dislike the least, or do I find another candidate who is running for the office of President, fully knowing that I am more or less throwing away my vote because they don't have the campaign funding, reach, or national footprint to be a factor just so I can feel like I've taken the moral high ground?
This is what is so sad about our system. I'm sure there are many people out there like me who don't really agree with the major candidates platforms, but vote for candidate D or candidate R because at least I like them more than they other guy. What we need to do is really take a look at this two party system and understand what a disservice it is to our nation to have to pick between a Barack Obama or a Mitt Romney. No offense is intended to either candidate on my part. It really isn't about them, or any other candidate that has run under the GOP or Democratic party banner. Our country has grown to the point where two major parties aren't enough anymore. Each party has also grown to the point where they are a shell of what they were meant to be. I see the major parties, much like I see the big unions such as the UAW today, corrupt and very much becoming the bureaucratic monstrosities that they at one point, were designed to counter. The Democratic and Republican Parties have raised around $640,000,000 EACH. That means we can expect somewhere around $1.2 BILLION dollars to be spent on this years election cycle. Breaking down the candidates themselves the numbers get even more hard to comprehend. According to the NY Times, Barack Obama has raised $690,000,000 and spent $615,000,000 while Mitt Romney has raised $633,000,000 and spent $533,000,000. That is well over a $1 TRILLION dollars between the two of them. Isn't that in and of itself enough wasteful spending? That is almost as much debt as we are adding to the national debt this year. How can't that be corrupt? Look at how many people have donated that money, with the real expectations that their donations will result in favorable policies for whatever special interests they have.
This is exactly why the Democrats and Republicans alike don't want a third party around. It really isn't because they don't want there to be a possibility of a third candidate with views that might be an overall better match for the voting public. It is because they don't want to lose their share of that TRILLION dollar pie of campaign funding.
My own left of center perspective pretty much agrees with this entirely. I have heard many people say it doesn't matter who they vote for, that it wont change anything. Or the famous Ralph Nader quote regarding John Kerry and George W. Bush in the 2004 election when he stated there was not a dime's worth of difference between the two candidates. There are obviously many differences between the two major parties, and may differences between President Obama's ideas, views and policies from the ones that Mitt Romney holds and would like to see put into place. But just how different are they?
As mentioned already, with all of the money their campaigns have received, how will that be "paid back? In 2008 I was an Obama supporter, these days I am merely an Obama voter. The difference lies in my efforts then to see that he gets elected, from petitioning to have him on the ballot in Ohio(before most people even knew who he was and thought the race would come down to Hillary Clinton and Rudy Guliani), to canvassing door to door, registering voters, and knocking on over 100 doors the weekend before the election This time around I will just be voting for him and nothing else. I pay close attention to politics, out of both fascination and suspicion. I was surprised to learn that President Obama in all of his private fund raising meetings with Wall Street people of note has raised more from that select group than all other presidents combined. So what if I not only sympathized with the Occupy Wall Street movement but was intent on wanting their good intentions carried out at the highest level, who should I support? A candidate who believes that "Corporations are people," or the President who has received the most money from Wall Street types in history?
Simply put, we need more options. Contrary to what the media likes us to believe, this country is not becoming more and more polarized. It seems that way because of the way one media outlet spins everything and the other outlet uses a bullhorn to shout everything they claim is "news." The truth is the country is very center oriented politically, on some issues they are center right, others they are center left, and this doesnt take into account the ever growing Libertarians and all of the other small factions of people who do not wish to be segregated into political groups. Who are they supposed to truly support? Anyone can go into a voting booth and pull a lever, but to truly have a candidate to support is an awesome feeling. It makes you think that you are doing the utmost of your duties as an American citizen. It is truly a shame that the two major parties, in conjunction with major media outlets and the corporate elites in the country have effectively shut out any outside contenders from getting involved in a meaningful way. America deserves better than that, its citizens deserve better than that as well. Even if you are an adamant supporter of either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, you would be better served by a true challenger calling out both of them on the real hypocrisy of their individual views and their political party's stance.
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